One State for one People. Thou shalt not be a victim, or perpetrator, but above all, thou shalt not be a bystander. Yasher Koach!

December 26, 2014

The coming boycott of Jewish businesses

SHMULEY BOTEACH
I saw a nasty thing walking with my children in New York City on the
Sabbath. On Madison Ave in the mid-sixties, we saw a group of people,
chanting, singing.
Was it Christmas carolers? As we got closer we saw it was a protest. An anti-Israel protest.
But this one was not outside an Israeli Consulate or Embassy. It was
outside a commercial, retail store. A diamond store. Owned by Lev
Leviev, the Israeli billionaire businessman and philanthropist.
“Glitz and glam. He steals Palestinian land.”
I was appalled. I got closer. The protesters were accusing Leviev, a
private Jewish citizens, of stealing Palestinian land, persecuting
Palestinians, and supporting an imperial Israel.
I asked the protesters who Leviev was and why they were protesting him.
Was he Israel’s Prime Minister or Foreign Minister? At least the
Ambassador. How else to explain why they would be protesting outside a
business simply owned by a Jew.
They told me he was an Israeli who supported Israel’s persecution of the
Palestinians. He was a known, high-profile Jewish businessman. They
were there to make sure no one bought his products.
I had had enough. I raised my hands into the air, in the mist of the
protest, and said loudly, “Long Live Israel, the only democracy in the
Middle East. The only country in that dark region that is a bastion of
liberty and human rights. A place where Palestinian women need never
fear honor killings. A place where Israeli Arabs have more guaranteed
rights than any Arab nation. A place where gay Palestinians need not
fear being shot in the head on false charges of collaboration. A place
where Arabs can protest publicly, just like all of you, and not be shot.
Long live righteous and majestic Israel.”
Instantly, all the protestors forgot about Leviev and turned their ire
toward me. I was now the devil. They were shouting at me, abusing me.
“F—ck off. Go F—ck yourself.”
I got louder.
“How revolting of all of you to protest a business because it’s owned by
a Jew.” What is this? Nuremberg 1934? Absolutely reprehensible.
My kids were now engaged in the fight, singing “Am Yisrael Chai. The
Jewish people are alive and well.” We were louder than the protestors.
I started saying “Down with Hamas which allows honor killings of
innocent Palestinian women. Down with Hamas that slaughters innocent
Palestinian gay men. Down with the Palestinian…. ” and I was about to
say “… Authority for refusing to go to elections in 10 years and
creating a dictatorship, robbing the Palestinian people of their
freedom” when I saw that someone was filming me on the Sabbath.
The police came over, trying to quell the confrontation. They have a permit, he said. They have the right to protest.
God bless America. I respect their right for public demonstration. But I also respect my right to write this in a column.
Jews of the world. Wake up. There has never been an assault on us like
this in our lifetimes. And we are allowing it. Through our timidity and
through closing our eyes and pretending not to see, it’s growing. Our
enemies are arraying against us. They have substituted anti-Semitism for
Anti-Israelism. But it’s the same sentiment.
Jew-hatred, pure and simple.
This holiday season the world’s anti-Semites are giving thanks for the
existence of the State of Israel. If not for Israel they would not have
camouflage for their Jew-hatred. Israel has given them cover. It’s not
the Jews we hate, but just the Jewish state. It’s not because we have an
inherent dislike of Jews. We just hate occupation.
But then they call each other on their IPhones, even though they’re made in China which has been occupying Tibet since 1950.
But only a weak community would give these haters a fig leaf to cover over their clear bigotry, prejudice, and hatred.
My kids were flabbergasted that a private Jewish business could draw
major accusations of Palestinian persecution. It suited the protesters
well that it was a diamond dealer. Perfect stereotype.
But who would be next? Which Jewish business would they target next?
A few hours later we went to the Chabad public Menorah lighting outside
the Plaza hotel on 5th Ave. There was a small protest against Israel
there was well. Joining the protest was a 20-something man who told us
all that the Jews owned all of 5th Avenue. He pointed across the street
at the famous Apple 5th Avenue store. “Apple is owned by Jews.”
I looked at him.
“Um, erg, hmmm. Did you know that Steve Jobs was the son of an
Arab-American? So how does that square with the Jews owning Apple?”
“Well the Jews bought it from Jobs with the endless money they have.”
Aha.
I thought to myself, Is there no respite from all this Jew-hatred? Can we not get away from them even at a Menorah lighting?
The other day Harvard University kicked out SodaStream from their
cafeteria for the terrible sin of employing hundreds of Palestinians at a
plant in Maale Adumim that treats Arabs as the absolute equals of their
Israeli counterparts. Without SodaStream these Palestinian families
would be destitute. But Palestinian activists at Harvard, animated by
hatred of Israel over love for Palestinian lives, demanded a boycott and
the caterer capitulated.
And so it goes. Jewish timidity in the United States is allowing more and more of these outrages to take place.
I wonder if we recognize the seriousness of what’s happening or will it engulf us before we take decisive action?
What is needed is an immediate move to organize Jewish students on
campus to respond publicly to the anti-Israel onslaught at Universities.
We need public demonstrations against Israel-hatred, anti-Semitism, and
in favor of freedom and democracy in the Middle East. Jewish students
should not just be fighting BDS but should be going on offense to push
through resolutions in the City Councils sanctioning Hamas and the
Palestinian Authority for not holding elections in a decade and
transforming Palestinian society into dictatorships.
Organizations who dare hold ordinary Jews responsible for actions in the
Middle East – which would be the equivalent of protesting an Arab-owned
department store in Detroit for the butchery of Bashar Assad in Syria –
should themselves be targeted for public demonstrations, calling them
what they are: anti-Semites.
And let’s honor those brave individuals who have stood up to BDS.
Every June our organization hosts the International Champions of Jewish
Values Gala Awards Dinner in New York. Last year the Hollywood celebrity
we honored was Sean Penn for his unrivaled bravery in going to Bolivia
and rescuing the life of a Jewish businessman who had been wrongly
incarcerated.
The year before we honored my dear friend Dr. Mehmet Oz, a Muslim, for
his tireless efforts to promote the value of human life by getting us
all to live more healthy lives and for his continued friendship with the
Jewish people. A few months after the award we hosted Mehmet and his
family in Israel.
This year we intend to honor Scarlett Johannson for standing up to the
pressure to abandon SodaStream, a company that is a model of
Arab-Israeli brotherhood and fraternity.
Scarlett, if you’re out there, please come to New York and accept. The dinner is on 3 June, 2015.
mething great!"

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About Me

I write this blog to voice an opinion of a : non-PC, non-politically affiliated, pro meritocracy, TNSTAAFL, believer in NO man, that is sick and tired of the Arab / Muslim taqiyya campaign of lies and fabrication, who is striving for observance and Aliyah.